The Fairytale of Holby City
by SaveTheWorldGetTheGirl
Summary: It's a fluffy Janny fic with a Disney-esque twist because it's Christmas. Jonny is telling a story to his daughters about a beautiful ginger princess, a brave knight, an evil sorceress and a handsome Scottish prince... It's better than it sounds, hopefully. Enjoy and please review on here or twitter @HannahOfBrannah xx


**Hello everyone and Merry Christmas :) I was originally going to post this tomorrow but then I discovered I might be busier than expected (presents etc) so you may have it tonight. I hope you enjoy it, it's just a bit of Janny fluff with a Disney-esque kind of twist. If you hate it, please tell me and I'll never do it again. It's quite different to the stuff I usually do I think. Please review :) xx**

"Daddy, please can you tell us a story?" The younger of the girls said as she was kissed on the head by her father.  
"It's getting late girls and you need to go to sleep so that Santa can get here."  
"But we can't sleep if you or mummy haven't told us a story!" The older sister joined in now; there wasn't much between them at 6 and 8 years, and they were not dissimilar in looks to each other. They had long hair which curled like their father's and was the same auburn-ginger as their mother's and they had the most gorgeous eyes: a mixture of blue and green as though the genes of their parents had been jumbled in the process of creating them.  
"Right, one story and then it is _definitely_ bed time." Jonny pulled a small pink chair out from the dressing table and sat down on it before ruffling his hair thinking of where he could start his tale. At the same time, Jac had climbed the stairs and was positioning herself where she too could hear the story. Every alternate night she sat by the door of the girls' room listening to the storyteller with his different voices and imaginative plots. She had concluded he was a far better storyteller than she was but she had her strengths in other things, so she could let him have this one. She silently and inconspicuously slid herself down by the wall and waited for the story to begin. Jonny had now thought of something and was going to take a leaf out of Auntie Mo's book with a fairytale about a certain ginger ...

"Once upon a time there lived a young girl called-"  
"Emily?!"  
"Ava?!"  
"Actually she was called Jacqueline, like your mum." Jac found her eyebrows raising as she listened in more intently.

"Was she a princess?"  
"Of course she was a Princess; she lived in a huge castle with her family in the Town of Holby. Her father, the King, was a marvellous man who the townsfolk loved. He worked hard to make sure his people were happy and that his daughter would grow up to live happily in the world he had created for her. His wife, the queen and Jacqueline's mother, was a beautiful lady with long blonde-ginger hair and a young and pretty face. She seemed to get younger and more beautiful with age and everyone seemed to admire her. The truth was not known by many and those who knew it well, they didn't have the power to speak because of what they had become. The truth was that the Queen was not a woman at all. She was a sorceress from another world who had travelled far to find the King and drain the life from him so she could stay young and beautiful forever; it isn't known why she chose this King and this world, all we know is what happened next.

"The Queen had lived with the King for two years before she gave birth to Jacqueline. The King was so happy that he had been given a child and as she grew up, he and the town loved her more and more. She looked a lot like her mother, she had beautiful auburn hair and a smile that would light up anybody and everybody's day; it was her eyes that she got from her father. They were a an emerald green that sparkled when she talked to you and nobody wanted her to ever stop talking to them; she was just enchanting. The Queen worried about her daughter; she was worried that she had gained some of her power. The Queen was selfish and wanted all of the power to herself, because she worried that she would lose the ability to stay young and powerful if it had been depleted.

The Queen continued to drain the life from the King and did so for ten years after Jacqueline was born; it was then on her tenth birthday that her father was taken ill. People from all over the town came to give their best wishes to the family; they brought their herbs and remedies but nothing was curing the King. This was because it was not an illness at all; the Queen had drained his life so often and for so long that he died after a few days. Jacqueline was devastated; she had never been close to her mother and had loved her father more than anybody in the world. After his death the town became a cold and dark place as the Queen was now the sole dictator. Many people died from starvation and the extreme weather that the Queen's powers enforced upon the place. It was now that everybody learnt the truth about their Queen. Many also wondered about the whereabouts of the young Princess who could once brighten up their day; several people had trespassed and tried to find her, but nobody made it out alive. There were many rumours as to where she had gone but the truth was that the Queen had locked her down in the dungeons because she still feared that she had acquired some of her powers. Therefore the evil sorceress spent two years on a potion that would prevent the young girl from ever exposing or using any of them. The Princess was forced to drink it even though it had a terrible taste and made her unwell; the Queen laughed manically after her flask had been emptied and suddenly she disappeared. She travelled to the sub-continent of India, where she found another King to be her life-support system."

"Daddy, is there going to be a happy ending?"  
"I'm sure there will be Princess."  
"Does the evil queen come back?"  
"You will have to wait and see. Where was I? That's right; the Queen had left the Town of Holby and Jacqueline had been given this potion. After a while, the people of the town felt the curse lifting, and they discovered that the Queen had left them. The search for the young princess began and they found her very quickly, but she had changed completely; the potion had corrupted her mind and body and had turned her into an icy witch. She was no longer herself and her words were harsh and bit at the people like a winter wind. She was ashamed of her new form and so wore a mask to cover it. She left the castle and hid herself among the people of the town; she worked for many years undiscovered as a healer. She was the best healer in Holby but because of the spell the potion had put her under, she repelled people, so she was alone with nobody to love her or be her friend except from one blind man, named Sacha. At night time she and Sacha would create their own potions to try and get rid of the curse she had been put under but it was no use. After a while she decided that she was stuck like this forever and so she concentrated hard on her work so it would give her something to do with her time and she hid her sadness well.

"It did not go unnoticed that the Princess had disappeared again but the majority of people were too scared to find her after her discovery last time. A few brave men came from around the world to track down the old Queen and her daughter but all attempts failed for the Queen was no longer in the town and of course, our Princess was hidden with the ordinary townsfolk. One of these brave knights, named Joseph, came close to finding her. He was wounded in battle in his own town and happened to stumble upon the hidden healer of Holby after losing his way. She treated him quickly and his injuries were no more in less than a week, but in this time the brave knight had fallen in love with the masked woman. He could somehow see past the disguise that the potion had given her; she also found herself falling in love with him. He did not seem to care about her icy disposition and in fact, the longer they were with each other, the more it started to melt and the more her beauty reappeared. This was her fatal mistake. The Queen could feel the potion weakening its grasp on the Princess.

The Queen wondered what she could possibly do; her second husband was growing ill under her spell and soon she would have to find somebody new to inflict her curse upon. Unless her daughter could help her in some way. Perhaps the key to her infinite youth lay with her. The old Queen travelled back to England to find her daughter. Her arrival brought a grey sky over the town and a crisp chill threatened those who ventured outside. Whispers of the return of the evil sorceress could be heard and the Princess became worried; however her brave knight Joseph thought nothing of it. He did not know of the extreme power of the Queen and could not contemplate the destruction she could cause. He stepped out of the castle despite the Princess begging him not to go; he walked cautiously to the town square, where the Queen sat on a stone bench with a black cloak on protecting her from the weather. It was pulled over her face but when she heard the footsteps of the knight she removed it. He was shocked and repulsed by what he saw; it almost drove him to run back into the castle without a second glance but the thought of the Princess waiting for him and the townsfolk depending on him to rid them of the evil Queen once again.

"He lifted his sword high above his head.  
'Be gone from this land and never return or I shall cut your head from your shoulders and parade it around on the end of my sword for the whole town to learn of your demise.' the Queen did move instantly, but slowly lifted herself up from her seat and as she stood up straight let out a hearty cackle.  
'You think your weapons scare me young man?'

'I said be gone'  
'And I say, no.' Joseph ran at the woman without a second thought and he thrust the blade at her but she was too fast; she spun out of his sight in less than a second. He shifted around to see where she had gone and his momentary confusion was enough time for the Queen to drive her own blade, made of an extraordinarily strong material, through his armour and into his beating heart. The knight fell on to his knees and not another sound came from him that night. The Queen left him dying in the town square as she hovered along the cobbled streets to her former home, where she knew the Princess would be hiding.

"The Princess used everything she could to protect herself from her mother; she barricaded the door, had stolen a knife from the kitchen and hid in her closet. However nothing could protect her from the sorceress' tricks.

'Princess? It is I Joseph, I have slain the evil queen and her head rests on my sword. While you let me in?' Had he killed her evil mother? She rushed out and removed the obstacles and unbolted the door. She had been too trusting.

'Hello there Jacqueline, thank you for letting me in.'  
'What has happened to Joseph? Where is he?' the panic in her voice was apparent as the Queen glided into the room.  
'The brave knight you sent to kill me is dead. But I am here now, your mother is here.' The princess tried to shove her away but the sorceress was too strong for her. She put her hand over her face and began chanting in a foreign tongue. Soon wispy lights erupted from the Princess' mouth and her eyes began shutting. As the process ended she fell to the ground, unresponsive and limp. What the Queen had gained was the remnants of the potion but in the form of a shimmering gem. She was a little confused and rolled it in the palm of her hand for a moment. It seemed to recognise its new surroundings and increased in temperature. Soon the stone was burning her hand; it then spread to her arms and soon her whole body was engulfed in the flames. She screamed and screamed from the pain but nobody came.

"The Queen was reduced to a pile of navy dust on the floor of room. It took a while for the Princess to reawaken but when she did she knew there was something different about her. She looked in the mirror; she was still not her usual self. She wondered why, even though the potion had left her, she had not returned back. Her enchanting eyes would never look across the town; she would never grace people with her smile or her beautiful voice. She had once felt it beginning to reappear but the hope of that died when the brave knight did. Now she believed that there was no hope in ever lifting the curse fully from her; she would never find another person who would love her for what she was.

"Until one day the arrival of a Prince changed everything."  
"Except he wasn't really a Prince now was he?"  
"Have you been listening to my story this whole time?" Jac couldn't help herself and stepped into the room.  
"I always do." She made herself comfortable at the end of Emily's bed. The girls then sat at her sides and rested their heads on her shoulders as she helped with the rest of the story. "Now, like I said, this Prince wasn't really a prince at all, he was probably a jester named Jonathan or a stable boy. It's funny, you have have this tendency to-" Jonny cut her off, continuing with his story.

"He was definitely a Prince and was on his travels to find someone he could marry and rule his kingdom with. His friend, a jester named Mo travelled with him, on the hunt for somebody suitable. They then came across the sad old town that was Holby. Legend surrounded the town of an old evil sorceress and her daughter, and this intrigued the Prince and his friend. He walked down the cobbled streets looking for the mysterious Princess but he knew he would not find her if she was in disguise during the day. The Prince wandered around asking about the Princess and where she could be found. Nobody could give him any answers as to where she was except from the castle, but that was only where she slept and nobody was ever seen going in there. It was growing dark and the black sky took over the town making it impossible for the Prince to continue his search that day. However the Prince was used to a certain standard of living and so he needed to find somewhere like his own castle to sleep for the night."

"A certain standard of living? You're from Scotland!"  
"There are castles in Scotland! And I wasn't talking about myself, this is Prince Jonathan. Now stop interrupting or you will be back outside."  
"Okay, _Prince _Jonathan."

"He knocked several times on the large door of the castle but nobody came to answer him. He persisted knocking and shouting for a while before he became too tired and had started to walk away from the gates when a creaking door sounded his granted entrance. He looked around at his jester friend, but she just shrugged and so they made their way into the castle. The main hallway was dimly lit and the Prince and the jester had to tread carefully, following the little light that was available. The walked right until the end of the hallway until they came across the only open door; it seemed that this is where they would be sleeping. Prince Jonathan set down his things and looked at the room he was presented with. It was generous to say the least as two beds awaited them. He was tired after the journey and so found it easy to fall asleep; although it was less easy to have uninterrupted dreams. He dreamt about the Princess who was surely in this castle with him at that very moment. When he awoke he decided he was going to try and persuade her to come out of hiding, but he did not want to scare her. So he wrote and left her a note outside his bedroom door before going out into the town to pick up some food for dinner.

"When he and his jester returned, the note had vanished but there was a reply. Unfortunately, the Princess had declined his offer of dinner, but this did not stop the Prince from trying once more with a letter. He wrote and told her how he would love to meet her and he told her of where he came from. In return, the Princess told him, via note of course about the town in which she lived. In his reply the Prince talked about his parents, and in hers she mentioned her father. He saw tears staining the page which in turn brought tears to his own eyes. They continued writing notes to each other for several days, even though it was a strange way to communicate while they were in the same castle, the Prince knew this was probably the only way of convincing her that he was staying until she showed herself to him.

One night while the Prince was sleeping, he heard several noises from one of the upstair's rooms and it became so much that he left his comfy bed and tip-toed out into the corridor, where he could now see a bright light. He followed it and found himself at a staircase. He clambered up, once again making sure he was completely silent. When he reached the top he saw a shadow moving across a doorway. He stepped cautiously towards it until he was face to face with whomever it was casting it; the two people gasped.  
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.'

'Don't look at me!'

'Sorry...I...but...' The Prince was very confused and continued to stare at the Princess.  
'What are you looking at?'  
'Well, if you don't mind my saying, you are very beautiful.'  
'Do not jest with me Prince.'  
'I do not jest, I have Mo for that. What I tell you is the truth.'  
'Then why is it, that when I look in the mirror I see-'

"The ugly, icy witch?" Jac raised her eyebrow.  
"She wasn't _that ugly." _Jonny said quickly. "_'_I see something else. I see dull eyes with no life or happiness. I cannot smile or laugh; I am not the Princess I once was.'  
'I am afraid I have to disagree with you.'  
'Then you are a fool.'

'Maybe. But I have come here looking for a Princess, somebody to rule alongside me, and I think I have found her.' The Prince had discovered something that was going to take the Princess a long time to realise. She had indeed returned to her beautiful original self the second the potion had been removed, but she could not see it because she was so sad. She had tried to trust and have friends and family, but no good ever came to it and so she had imagined that she was still this monstrous woman when in fact, if she only let people in, she would see that she wasn't. The Prince tried once more to convince her that she was definitely the one he had come to marry, but she turned her back.  
'Please go back to your bed and leave first thing in the morning; I am sorry for waking you and your wasted journey.' The Prince shook his head with his own sadness, but did as the Princess said.

"The next morning the Princess found their empty beds and sighed, while she had told them to leave, she was going to miss his letters as they seemed to be the only communication she got. She put on her big black cloak and decided to go into town to work yet again as a healer. But as much as she tried, she could not get what the Prince had said out of her mind. He had told her that she was beautiful, but she could not believe him. Her reflection proved that he must be lying because all she saw was a cold face with no emotion. The only emotion lay deep within her. She pulled the cloak further over her head as she thought about the image, but it was winter weather and the winds were strong. The hood was soon blown from her and uncovered her to the townsfolk. Now usually this would not have been a problem, as she had only stepped a few meters from the castle door, but the Prince had been busy. He had gathered a crowd of people near the castle to look upon their Princess and try to convince her that the spell had indeed been lifted. For a moment there was silence as the Princess took in a heavy breath and held it. Then suddenly the crowd roared. At first the Princess thought they were going to attack her but she listened closely and they were not angry yells, but cheers!  
'Do you believe me now Princess?' The Prince stepped up in front of her.  
'Well...I... I suppose... that I might have to.' She was still confused but smiled at the townsfolk who were still cheering at their Princess who, while she was as beautiful, had grown up since they had last seen her like this. 'I don't understand' She said to the Prince.  
'Well, being alone can make a person believe and imagine things that aren't real. But look at this,' he gestured to the gathered townsfolk, 'They see you for who you really are, and so do I. I think you just need to believe in yourself.'  
'Well, how can I do that?'  
'I wonder if you would consider my earlier proposal?' The Prince grinned as the Princess nodded her head.

"Their wedding day was the first time she looked into the mirror since the Prince had arrived. She was worried that everything had been a joke and she would look and see herself as she had done before. She stood in front of it with her eyes closed for a moment, and then slowly opened it to see-"  
"Was she the beautiful Princess again?"  
"Well, she was definitely beautiful Emily, but she was not a Princess anymore. She was a Queen. She could not bare to leave the town and so King Jonathan ruled Holby with her instead. They had two children who had their mother's eyes and enchanting smiles. Thankfully, it seemed there was no evil spirit or powers to be found within any of them and so-"  
"They lived happily ever after." Jac finished the story with a smile. "Now, Santa is due very soon girls, so I suggest you shut your eyes tight and dream of Princesses and Princes."  
"Maybe not Princes just yet." Jonny mumbled, inaudible to Jac and the girls' parents left them with a kiss on their foreheads and an exciting dream-filled sleep.


End file.
